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- Title
Effects of reminiscence and life review on late-life depression: a meta-analysis.
- Authors
Bohlmeijer, Ernst; Smit, Filip; Cuijpers, Pim
- Abstract
Aim To assess the effectiveness of reminiscence and life review on late-life depression across different target groups and treatment modalities. Method Twenty controlled outcome studies were retrieved from Psychlit , Medline and Dissertation Abstracts . For each study a standardised effect size, d , was calculated and a random-effects meta-analysis was conducted. Results An overall effect size of 0.84 (95% Confidence Intervals (CI)=0.31–1.37) was found, indicating a statistically and clinically significant effect of reminiscence and life review on depressive symptomatology in elderly people. This effect is comparable to the effects commonly found for pharmacotherapy and psychological treatments. The effect was larger in subjects with elevated depressive symptomatology (d =1.23) as compared to other subjects (d =0.37). Other characteristics of the subjects or interventions were not found to be related to increased or decreased effect sizes. Discussion Reminiscence and life review are potentially effective treatments for depressive symptoms in the elderly and may thus offer a valuable alternative to psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. Especially in non-institutionalised elderly people—who often have untreated depression—it may prove to be an effective, safe and acceptable form of treatment. Randomized trials with sufficient statistical power are necessary to confirm the results of this study. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Subjects
DEPRESSION in old age; GERIATRIC psychiatry; META-analysis; REMINISCENCE; MENTAL health of older people
- Publication
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2003, Vol 18, Issue 12, p1088
- ISSN
0885-6230
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/gps.1018